Hunting before tree stands

[BassBoysLLP]

Lets hear those stories from yesteryear! A time before tree stands when bowhunting was more uncomfortable and a lot less safe.

I remember climbing trees and standing on a limb all night long. It felt like a luxury stand when you had another limb to sit on. You were generally only afforded to shoot in one direction.

Or another yesteryear classic...standing on a cross piece. Cutting a length of tree long enough to fit between two Ys on a split tree.

I don't miss those old days very much, but I sure enjoy the memories.

[Dewey]

Stood on a few limbs myself and fell off a few of them as well. Surprised I am still in one piece after some of the stupid things I did.

My favorite trees to sit in are old huge cottonwood trees in the marshes. Just climbed up and stood in the crotch of the tree since they usually have a nice natural flat platform to stand on. Still do that on occation if I find a tree in a good spot. Can't ask for better coverage and have never been picked off by a deer in one.

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[Swampthing]

I remember my first ever deer hunt with my dad. It was roughly 1982. He had nailed some 2x4's into a makeshift ladder and when we got up there he had a little throne waiting for me. It was a piece of carpet draped between 2 limbs that gently sloped away from the tree. It made sort of a hammock. He set me in there and I was snug as a bug,even though it was November and real cold . Felt like I was floating above the ground.

[Dor]

The first shot (shots actually, I unloaded my quiver-missing every time) I ever had at a deer was from a natural stand we made be cutting down a cedar and boarding it to a big split oak. Those were the days. I never felt unsafe in it, but looking back I doubt I'd want to hunt out of that uncomfortable thing again.

[hoyt]

I hunted Ft. Stewart, Ga. a lot in the 60's..I climbed trees, stood on limbs, etc. and even tied myself into trees with a rope on some occasions when I stayed out real late at night and had a tendency to get drowsy.

Even though commercial treestands weren't on the market yet, we started building our own hang ons in the mid 60's and would use them with pole climbers. Sometimes I would just climb a tree with the pole climbers and sit or stand on limbs...and of course there were what we called permanent stands around made from modern lumber and nails or tied in limbs at the right places.

I was standing on a limb when I killed this 7pt in Ft. Stewart back in the mid 60's..that's me in the camo.

The best trees we had to climb were Live Oaks..

[MOBIGBUCKS]

The first deer I ever killed was from 8 feet in the air on a branch. The Marlin 30/30 worked good that day. Man, was I happy

[BassBoysLLP]

I remember my first ever deer hunt with my dad. It was roughly 1982. He had nailed some 2x4's into a makeshift ladder and when we got up there he had a little throne waiting for me. It was a piece of carpet draped between 2 limbs that gently sloped away from the tree. It made sort of a hammock. He set me in there and I was snug as a bug,even though it was November and real cold . Felt like I was floating above the ground.

Nice! These stories are great!

[BassBoysLLP]

An old hybrid to the good ole' cross piece was the wire stand. Similar to the cross piece, two strands of wire were run between a branched tree and you stood on it.

Back in '94, I missed three deer in one night from a set up like this, 5 arrows total. I actually had to climb down mid-hunt to get some more arrow.

Maybe it was my mediocre instinctive shooting back then, maybe it was deer fever, maybe shaking legs on a two wobbling wires. I really don't care. It was fun!

[BassBoysLLP]

I hunted Ft. Stewart, Ga. a lot in the 60's..I climbed trees, stood on limbs, etc. and even tied myself into trees with a rope on some occasions when I stayed out real late at night and had a tendency to get drowsy.

Even though commercial treestands weren't on the market yet, we started building our own hang ons in the mid 60's and would use them with pole climbers. Sometimes I would just climb a tree with the pole climbers and sit or stand on limbs...and of course there were what we called permanent stands around made from modern lumber and nails or tied in limbs at the right places.

I was standing on a limb when I killed this 7pt in Ft. Stewart back in the mid 60's..that's me in the camo.

The best trees we had to climb were Live Oaks..

Great story. Love these old pics

[Singing Bridge]

I've arrowed quite a few deer from trees without a treestand, especially back in the old days. When I was a kid, you had to be 12 to bowhunt. When I was 11 I got a 45# Bear Grizzly recurve and practiced with it until I blistered and bled. The next fall I decided to hunt a stand of mature white oak tree's- I saw deer stage there out of a bedding thicket before entering a corn field on an afternoon hunt. With my bow tied to a rope and my trousers I had to run full speed and leap upward to catch the lowest limb on a mature white oak. Once dangling, I had to swing my feet up and over and pull up. Then I hopped upward on some large limbs and stood against the oak with my feet on top of a very large limb. An hour later a buck showed up... when he went behind another mature oak I drew back and shot him when he stepped clear. Buck down... my first. I ran to my bicycle and rode home, burst through the front door and announced to all that I had arrowed a buck. The looks were priceless. I went on to arrow many deer without a treestand.

[Bigdaddy-yoyo]

I've arrowed quite a few deer from trees without a treestand, especially back in the old days. When I was a kid, you had to be 12 to bowhunt. When I was 11 I got a 45# Bear Grizzly recurve and practiced with it until I blistered and bled. The next fall I decided to hunt a stand of mature white oak tree's- I saw deer stage there out of a bedding thicket before entering a corn field on an afternoon hunt. With my bow tied to a rope and my trousers I had to run full speed and leap upward to catch the lowest limb on a mature white oak. Once dangling, I had to swing my feet up and over and pull up. Then I hopped upward on some large limbs and stood against the oak with my feet on top of a very large limb. An hour later a buck showed up... when he went behind another mature oak I drew back and shot him when he stepped clear. Buck down... my first. I ran to my bicycle and rode home, burst through the front door and announced to all that I had arrowed a buck. The looks were priceless. I went on to arrow many deer without a treestand.

That is way cool SB.......If I knew you back then we Would of smoked a ' Arturo Fuentes' before we went to look for him

Now that would of got us some looks .......being Twelve

[BassBoysLLP]

I've arrowed quite a few deer from trees without a treestand, especially back in the old days. When I was a kid, you had to be 12 to bowhunt. When I was 11 I got a 45# Bear Grizzly recurve and practiced with it until I blistered and bled. The next fall I decided to hunt a stand of mature white oak tree's- I saw deer stage there out of a bedding thicket before entering a corn field on an afternoon hunt. With my bow tied to a rope and my trousers I had to run full speed and leap upward to catch the lowest limb on a mature white oak. Once dangling, I had to swing my feet up and over and pull up. Then I hopped upward on some large limbs and stood against the oak with my feet on top of a very large limb. An hour later a buck showed up... when he went behind another mature oak I drew back and shot him when he stepped clear. Buck down... my first. I ran to my bicycle and rode home, burst through the front door and announced to all that I had arrowed a buck. The looks were priceless. I went on to arrow many deer without a treestand.

.

I learned to shoot with A 45# bear grizzly. Upgraded to a compound shortly before I could hunt, but stayed instinctive. Sights were for target shooters back then.

AWESOME story. Priceless indeed.

[Bucky]

My dad would always look for two trees close together and then make steps between them using treated lumber... With a small platform up on top. When I was 21 I went back to one of the farms my dad bow hunted in his 30s. After scouting the three best locals on the farm all had remnants of one of my dads old home made double sets. One particular area the tree stand was in the exact perfect tree (funnel) that I hung my lock on stand 5 or 6 feet above the old treated wood platform! I saw plenty of bucks outta set... And it was fun to think my dad had hunted same area some 20yrs ago at roughly my same age.

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[MOBIGBUCKS]

My dad would always look for two trees close together and then make steps between them using treated lumber... With a small platform up on top. When I went back to a farm 8yrs later (I hunted with my dad at 12-13 yrs old on this farm and later after my dad had moved on I gained permission once again) I scouted the huntable acreage and ended up with three stand sites all in the same locals as the treated lumbar double tree sets built 20yrs before my bowhunting time. One set the tree was so perfect I ended up hanging my lock on about 7ft higher above my dads old home made platform in that spot.

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That's awesome!!

[jshorns]

Wow! If I had a dime for every hour I spent standing on a limb in the Ozark mountains I'd be rich! We would spend all day, from daylight to dark, perched high in a blackjack or post oak. We would just shinny up the tree, no steps, ladders, or safety equipment - I could climb anything when I was young. I shot my first buck, both gun and bow, perched on a limb. The first really big (to me) buck I ever saw, and missed, was from the crotch a large oak near Caney Mountain Refuge in Ozark County Missouri. My first portable tree stand was a homemade red wood and plywood version built with directions from the Missouri Dept. of Conservation. My first real tree stand was a loc-on brand. My first bow was a three piece take down made by Black Widow Bow company in Billing Mo. (Birthplace of the compound bow - made by Allen archery) Who would have dreamed that one day we would be talking about it as if was ancient history!

Here's a pic of the hunting gang back in the 70's - no one owned a stand.